AP United States History Summer Reading Project, 2007-2008
The following passage is written in the format similar to that found in the many "Don't Know About..." Series, authored by Kenneth C. Davis. Remember that your assignment is to pick-up where he left off (or out) - pick one topic you thought he should have elaberated further on OR didn't discuss at all. Each finished "mini-essay" should be no less than 500 words and no more than 1000.
Foreword (by Mr. Freccia, teacher of AP US History)
The following question and answer delves into something that is only briefly touched upon by Kenneth C. Davis in Don't Know Much About History - the space race. For that reason, this addition would go between the question on Sputnik and the question on the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba. The race for the moon in particular had a special interest for me because of my interest in science (particularly weather and space) and history, so much so it was my senior research thesis in college (a thesis that was awarded the Fletcher Allen Prize for best undergraduate thesis at the University of Delaware in 2002). A perfect combination of those two personal interests, along with some Cold War intrigue, made this a topic that I always examine when reading about the Cold War in particular. Although this is obviously not the 18-page version, it is a paired down version of my research that should help you create your own addition to Don't Know Much About History.
How can you have a race in space?
Since the dawn of history, every powerful state has had its own adversary or nemesis. Ancient Greece had Persia, Rome had Carthage, Spain had England, Germany had France, and the United States had the Soviet Union. But in each of these cases one state prevailed, usually through the means of propaganda, military might, and/or through the development and use of new technology. These three determinants have helped decide who will be remembered in the chapters of history, and who will just be footnotes. In the case of the United States and the Soviet Union, no “real” war occurred. The battles fought between the two during this period known as the “Cold War” occurred not in tanks or on aircraft carriers but through press briefings and laboratories. It was a war fought through discovery and propaganda, a perfect example of which was the race for supremacy in space – a race that effectively ended at the moon.
John F. Kennedy once said, “No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can be expected to stay behind in the race for space, or any other race. We have vowed that we shall not see the moon and the planets beyond governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace.”[1] The race to the moon, starting in 1957 and climaxing in 1969, is in many ways a personification of the entire Cold War. Victory in space translated to victory on Earth – the ability to prove technological supremacy above helped prove the supremacy of the ideologies practiced on the surface. For the Soviet Union, this race represented a chance to prove their technological meddle to the rest of the world, provide a cover for their existing problems at home (a subpar standard of living, limited number of ICBMs), and “showcase” the advantages of socialism and the Soviet system over capitalism and the West (education, social equality, etc.). For the United States this race was a challenge to their belief in technological superiority, began with a national hysteria that forced direct and immediate action by political leaders, and ended by providing a rallying point for the American people in a way not seen except during wartime. But as propaganda, this race was of paramount importance to the leaders of both countries. Lyndon Johnson once said that “the impact of this adventure on the minds of men everywhere, who are trying to make a determination on which road they should take...is critical because in many ways it may hold the key to our future on Earth.”[2]
Both countries used teams of captured German scientists from World War II with their own, with the purpose of modifying the V-1 and V-2 rockets that were used in the Battle of Britain by the Nazis. Heading the American Army’s effort was former German scientist and space enthusiast Wernher von Braun (who designed the V-1 and V-2), while Russian Sergei Korolev led the Soviet efforts in developing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) with the help of the East German engineers. As the Soviet Union built its “lead” on the American effort with the launches of the first “passenger” (a dog, Laika), the first probe to leave Earth’s orbit, the first probe to land on the moon, the first probe to orbit the moon, and the first man in space (Yuri Gagarin) thru 1961, American scientists were growing increasingly frustrated. By 1960 the United States had attempted 37 launches and succeeded 18 times, compared to the Soviet Union’s 11 launch attempts and only 6 successes.[3] Despite this large discrepancy, the Soviets were seen as “more successful” by the global audience because they were perfect (6 for 6 because the failures remained secret) and they pushed the envelope and succeeded, while NASA seemingly continued to do what had already been done. It was American President John F. Kennedy though, who set the ultimate goal in the race – the moon.
In his 1961 State of Union Address, Kennedy outlined the 33 billion dollar Apollo project:
"Now it is time to take longer stride – time for a great new American enterprise – time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth. I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. No single space project in this period will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."[4]
That speech changed the space race entirely for both the Americans and the Soviets because neither had the technology or ability at the time to fulfill it – they would have to build toward it. No longer would the space race be judged on ‘firsts’ but on progress toward the ultimate goal – the moon. In declaring such a far-reaching and difficult goal, Kennedy knowingly challenged the Soviets to a race they would have problems competing in. In the past, the Soviet program had used gimmick missions to achieve firsts and embarrass the United States despite its superior technology. The first satellite was basically an orbiting radio, the first satellite to leave earth did so because it missed the moon, the first moon probe crashed (not landed) on the moon, and the first manned mission was basically ‘a circus stunt’ – the human cannonball (Vostok was not a piloted craft – the cosmonaut was just along for the ride). Now, they had to earn victory the hard way, through know-how and technological achievement, against a country that had utilized its tremendous industrial wealth in people and natural resources to defeat its past enemies in both World Wars.
Those successes, however, marked the end to Soviet space flight until 1967. Two things though caused the program to stall long enough for the Americans to achieve a significant head start in this final leg of the race – Korolev’s death in 1966 and Khrushchev’s removal from power in 1964 (a day after Voskhod 1 returned to Earth). Those two events, which caused an administrative civil war within the program along with less favorable funding from Moscow, caused administrational and budgetary delays that slowed the design and testing stages of the new moon rocket Nova and it’s lunar craft, a modified version of the Soyuz called Zond. By the time Korolev’s successor, Vasily Mishin, took over the program the Soviets were nearly three years behind the Americans in the moon race and budgetary concerns all but forced him to abandon all “near-earth” projects (space stations and the Soyuz) and focus on a manned lunar landing.[5] While the Soviet program was seemingly falling apart, the Americans soon matched and surpassed the Soviet successes in space by launching their own multiple person crafts and by participating in space walks (while also exhibiting “firsts” and records in docking, length of time in space, and high speed reentry) during the nine Gemini missions that occurred between 1965-66. The loss of three astronauts in an Apollo training exercise on January 27, 1967, however, threatened the viability and future of the program. While the Senate Inquiry into the incident did criticize NASA for being to hasty in trying to meet the Kennedy deadline, it did not call for a delay. Apollo was still “go for launch” but an internal investigation by NASA did slow down the timetable as the rocket and spacecraft were re-examined to eliminate problems. Seeing a chance to retake the spotlight, the Soviets launched their first manned Soyuz spacecraft in April 1967 – but found failure upon re-entry as the parachute failed to open, killing cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. His death, combined with a Nova (moon) rocket explosion that nearly leveled the launch facility (killing over 100), and the failed re-entries and navigational blunders of six of the seven Zond test crafts (launched between 1967 and 1969), all but ended the Soviet hopes of putting man on the moon prior to the Americans.
After adjustments were made to Apollo 7, the first manned mission in the Apollo series, the Americans returned to space. They opened the Apollo era with a bang using the newest of von Broun’s rocket designs, the Saturn V (so loud was the launch it could be heard from as far away as Jacksonville to the north and Palm Beach to the South).[6] Following up the successful mission of Apollo 7 (which was to test the space craft for glitches in earth orbit), that December Apollo 8, with a crew of three, successfully became the first men to orbit the moon. Knowing that the Americans were mere months away from completing what Kennedy had promised eight years prior, Mishin launched a last ditch effort to beat the Americans to the moon (and steal the spotlight from Apollo 11) using a satellite/lander craft known as Luna 15. Launched three days prior to the launch of Apollo 11 (which took off on July 16th), Luna 15’s intended mission was to land on the moon, collect soil samples and return to earth.[7] Instead, once achieving lunar orbit, the craft remained there for five days before crashing into the surface due to an apparent malfunction. The Soviets, who had challenged and continuously surprised and beaten the Americans to the punch throughout the space race, had finally lost. The Americans won the battle for space and scored the “mother of all propaganda victories” in the process by reaching 600 million people around the world.[8]
[1] Krug, Linda T. Presidential Perspectives on Space (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1991), 33. [2] Edited by Launius, Roger D. and McCurdy, Howard E. Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership, (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1997), 72. [3] Schefter, James. The Race: The Uncensored Story of How America Beat Russia to the Moon (New York: Doubleday, 1999), 100. [4] Heppenheimer, T. A. Countdown: A History of Space Flight (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997), 196. [5] Heppenheimer, 234-235. [6] Schefter, 260. [7] McClellan, Jim R. (ed.) Historical Moments: Changing Interpretations of America’s Past, Volume 2 – The Civil War Through the 20th Century (New York: Dushkin/McGraw-Hill, 2000), 454. [8] http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/opendays/history.html
The following passage is written in the format similar to that found in the many "Don't Know About..." Series, authored by Kenneth C. Davis. Remember that your assignment is to pick-up where he left off (or out) - pick one topic you thought he should have elaberated further on OR didn't discuss at all. Each finished "mini-essay" should be no less than 500 words and no more than 1000.
Foreword (by Mr. Freccia, teacher of AP US History)
The following question and answer delves into something that is only briefly touched upon by Kenneth C. Davis in Don't Know Much About History - the space race. For that reason, this addition would go between the question on Sputnik and the question on the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba. The race for the moon in particular had a special interest for me because of my interest in science (particularly weather and space) and history, so much so it was my senior research thesis in college (a thesis that was awarded the Fletcher Allen Prize for best undergraduate thesis at the University of Delaware in 2002). A perfect combination of those two personal interests, along with some Cold War intrigue, made this a topic that I always examine when reading about the Cold War in particular. Although this is obviously not the 18-page version, it is a paired down version of my research that should help you create your own addition to Don't Know Much About History.How can you have a race in space?
Since the dawn of history, every powerful state has had its own adversary or nemesis. Ancient Greece had Persia, Rome had Carthage, Spain had England, Germany had France, and the United States had the Soviet Union. But in each of these cases one state prevailed, usually through the means of propaganda, military might, and/or through the development and use of new technology. These three determinants have helped decide who will be remembered in the chapters of history, and who will just be footnotes. In the case of the United States and the Soviet Union, no “real” war occurred. The battles fought between the two during this period known as the “Cold War” occurred not in tanks or on aircraft carriers but through press briefings and laboratories. It was a war fought through discovery and propaganda, a perfect example of which was the race for supremacy in space – a race that effectively ended at the moon.
John F. Kennedy once said, “No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can be expected to stay behind in the race for space, or any other race. We have vowed that we shall not see the moon and the planets beyond governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace.”[1] The race to the moon, starting in 1957 and climaxing in 1969, is in many ways a personification of the entire Cold War. Victory in space translated to victory on Earth – the ability to prove technological supremacy above helped prove the supremacy of the ideologies practiced on the surface. For the Soviet Union, this race represented a chance to prove their technological meddle to the rest of the world, provide a cover for their existing problems at home (a subpar standard of living, limited number of ICBMs), and “showcase” the advantages of socialism and the Soviet system over capitalism and the West (education, social equality, etc.). For the United States this race was a challenge to their belief in technological superiority, began with a national hysteria that forced direct and immediate action by political leaders, and ended by providing a rallying point for the American people in a way not seen except during wartime. But as propaganda, this race was of paramount importance to the leaders of both countries. Lyndon Johnson once said that “the impact of this adventure on the minds of men everywhere, who are trying to make a determination on which road they should take...is critical because in many ways it may hold the key to our future on Earth.”[2]
Both countries used teams of captured German scientists from World War II with their own, with the purpose of modifying the V-1 and V-2 rockets that were used in the Battle of Britain by the Nazis. Heading the American Army’s effort was former German scientist and space enthusiast Wernher von Braun (who designed the V-1 and V-2), while Russian Sergei Korolev led the Soviet efforts in developing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) with the help of the East German engineers. As the Soviet Union built its “lead” on the American effort with the launches of the first “passenger” (a dog, Laika), the first probe to leave Earth’s orbit, the first probe to land on the moon, the first probe to orbit the moon, and the first man in space (Yuri Gagarin) thru 1961, American scientists were growing increasingly frustrated. By 1960 the United States had attempted 37 launches and succeeded 18 times, compared to the Soviet Union’s 11 launch attempts and only 6 successes.[3] Despite this large discrepancy, the Soviets were seen as “more successful” by the global audience because they were perfect (6 for 6 because the failures remained secret) and they pushed the envelope and succeeded, while NASA seemingly continued to do what had already been done. It was American President John F. Kennedy though, who set the ultimate goal in the race – the moon.
In his 1961 State of Union Address, Kennedy outlined the 33 billion dollar Apollo project:
"Now it is time to take longer stride – time for a great new American enterprise – time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth. I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. No single space project in this period will be more exciting, or more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."[4]
That speech changed the space race entirely for both the Americans and the Soviets because neither had the technology or ability at the time to fulfill it – they would have to build toward it. No longer would the space race be judged on ‘firsts’ but on progress toward the ultimate goal – the moon. In declaring such a far-reaching and difficult goal, Kennedy knowingly challenged the Soviets to a race they would have problems competing in. In the past, the Soviet program had used gimmick missions to achieve firsts and embarrass the United States despite its superior technology. The first satellite was basically an orbiting radio, the first satellite to leave earth did so because it missed the moon, the first moon probe crashed (not landed) on the moon, and the first manned mission was basically ‘a circus stunt’ – the human cannonball (Vostok was not a piloted craft – the cosmonaut was just along for the ride). Now, they had to earn victory the hard way, through know-how and technological achievement, against a country that had utilized its tremendous industrial wealth in people and natural resources to defeat its past enemies in both World Wars.
Those successes, however, marked the end to Soviet space flight until 1967. Two things though caused the program to stall long enough for the Americans to achieve a significant head start in this final leg of the race – Korolev’s death in 1966 and Khrushchev’s removal from power in 1964 (a day after Voskhod 1 returned to Earth). Those two events, which caused an administrative civil war within the program along with less favorable funding from Moscow, caused administrational and budgetary delays that slowed the design and testing stages of the new moon rocket Nova and it’s lunar craft, a modified version of the Soyuz called Zond. By the time Korolev’s successor, Vasily Mishin, took over the program the Soviets were nearly three years behind the Americans in the moon race and budgetary concerns all but forced him to abandon all “near-earth” projects (space stations and the Soyuz) and focus on a manned lunar landing.[5] While the Soviet program was seemingly falling apart, the Americans soon matched and surpassed the Soviet successes in space by launching their own multiple person crafts and by participating in space walks (while also exhibiting “firsts” and records in docking, length of time in space, and high speed reentry) during the nine Gemini missions that occurred between 1965-66. The loss of three astronauts in an Apollo training exercise on January 27, 1967, however, threatened the viability and future of the program. While the Senate Inquiry into the incident did criticize NASA for being to hasty in trying to meet the Kennedy deadline, it did not call for a delay. Apollo was still “go for launch” but an internal investigation by NASA did slow down the timetable as the rocket and spacecraft were re-examined to eliminate problems. Seeing a chance to retake the spotlight, the Soviets launched their first manned Soyuz spacecraft in April 1967 – but found failure upon re-entry as the parachute failed to open, killing cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. His death, combined with a Nova (moon) rocket explosion that nearly leveled the launch facility (killing over 100), and the failed re-entries and navigational blunders of six of the seven Zond test crafts (launched between 1967 and 1969), all but ended the Soviet hopes of putting man on the moon prior to the Americans.
After adjustments were made to Apollo 7, the first manned mission in the Apollo series, the Americans returned to space. They opened the Apollo era with a bang using the newest of von Broun’s rocket designs, the Saturn V (so loud was the launch it could be heard from as far away as Jacksonville to the north and Palm Beach to the South).[6] Following up the successful mission of Apollo 7 (which was to test the space craft for glitches in earth orbit), that December Apollo 8, with a crew of three, successfully became the first men to orbit the moon. Knowing that the Americans were mere months away from completing what Kennedy had promised eight years prior, Mishin launched a last ditch effort to beat the Americans to the moon (and steal the spotlight from Apollo 11) using a satellite/lander craft known as Luna 15. Launched three days prior to the launch of Apollo 11 (which took off on July 16th), Luna 15’s intended mission was to land on the moon, collect soil samples and return to earth.[7] Instead, once achieving lunar orbit, the craft remained there for five days before crashing into the surface due to an apparent malfunction. The Soviets, who had challenged and continuously surprised and beaten the Americans to the punch throughout the space race, had finally lost. The Americans won the battle for space and scored the “mother of all propaganda victories” in the process by reaching 600 million people around the world.[8]
[1] Krug, Linda T. Presidential Perspectives on Space (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1991), 33.
[2] Edited by Launius, Roger D. and McCurdy, Howard E. Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership, (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1997), 72.
[3] Schefter, James. The Race: The Uncensored Story of How America Beat Russia to the Moon (New York: Doubleday, 1999), 100.
[4] Heppenheimer, T. A. Countdown: A History of Space Flight (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997), 196.
[5] Heppenheimer, 234-235.
[6] Schefter, 260.
[7] McClellan, Jim R. (ed.) Historical Moments: Changing Interpretations of America’s Past, Volume 2 – The Civil War Through the 20th Century (New York: Dushkin/McGraw-Hill, 2000), 454.
[8] http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/opendays/history.html